Mission Statement

CFR’s Mission

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

Founded in 1921, CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. CFR carries out its mission by

  • maintaining a diverse membership, including special programs to promote interest and develop expertise in the next generation of foreign policy leaders;
  • convening meetings at its headquarters in New York and in Washington, DC, and other cities where senior government officials, members of Congress, global leaders, and prominent thinkers come together with CFR members to discuss and debate major international issues;
  • supporting a Studies Program that fosters independent research, enabling CFR scholars to produce articles, reports, and books and hold roundtables that analyze foreign policy issues and make concrete policy recommendations;
  • publishing Foreign Affairs, the preeminent journal of international affairs and U.S. foreign policy;
  • sponsoring Independent Task Forces that produce reports with both findings and policy prescriptions on the most important foreign policy topics; and
  • providing up-to-date information and analysis about world events and American foreign policy on its website, CFR.org.